Amman City Guide

dramatic change and progress over the few last decades on many aspects of the modern city of Amman, the city is capital of Jordan, the biggest city as well and a regional capital, very rich in culture, Ain Gazal old site is a guide to the human history holding the eldest stucco status

Amman and Area Around

​The capital and the biggest city in Jordan, the economic, political and cultural center located in the north center of Jordan, according to 2016 population statistic Amman has nearly 45% of the entire population of Jordan which exceeded 9.5 million inhabitants around 4 millions are living in Amman, the city is considered a regional capital and one of the major tourists attractions in the region

The city is located at the edge of the desert to the east of Jordan River, around three main valleys and originally it was built upon seven mountains and Amman first most known areas were named after those mountains as follow: Jabal Amman, Jabal Alwebdeh, Jabal Aljofa, Jabal Alhussein, Jabal Ataj, Jabal Alqala'a, Jabal Anadeef, the word "Jabal" means mount in Arabic, the elevations of those mountains vary from 700 to 1100 meters above sea level

Amman's location near the desert to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, located upon those mountains influenced its climate, it has moderate breezy weather, dry moderate summer with two or three waves of heat, and cold rainy winter with two or three waves of snow, and spring is very moderate in Amman and green, average temperatures vary from 1 to 5 degrees night time and 7 to 15 degrees day time in the winter, and between 25 to 30 degrees night time and 33 to 38 degrees day time during summer and spring season

Amman Old History

Ain Gazal Status

​The earliest discovered inhabitation dates back to the Neolithic period (around 10 thousand years before present), the Neolithic site excavated in the area of Amman is known as "Ain Gazal" locally and it is well known for a set of small human status manufactured out of stucco, the area was referred as Rabbath Ammon as the capital of the Ammonites according to the biblical records, then it was known as Philadelphia during the Roman period and as mentioned in the new testament, finally known as AmmanThe area and the city hold several ancient archeological sites from different periods, remains the citadel and the Roman Theater as the main archeological highlights there, the citadel contains monuments and ruins from all historical periods since more than 5000 years before present; Amman was also located along the king's highway as a major regional trade center during the iron ages, the city had joined the Decapolis cities during the roman period, the city was probably abandoned after 749 A.D because of the famous earthquake with remaining towns around the area, re-inhabited again by the Circassians at the end of the Ottoman Turkish period, the Ottoman Turkish rail way penetrated Amman as well

Modern City of Amman

The Arab rebels took over Amman in 1918 forcing the ottoman Turks to withdraw to the north, in 1921 it became the capital of the modern state of Jordan known as "Emirate of Jordan" later on in 1950 it became the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan", Jordan gained its independence in 1946 where Amman was designated as the capital of the state and its population increased a lot during the 1948 war and 1967 war with Israel because of the massive Palestinians refugees flux, in 1971 the city was almost the main battle field during the conflict between the official Jordanian forces (the Army) and the militias' of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) which is known as black September, after that the city flourished remarkably after tough period of time, many waves of refugees headed to Jordan during all the regional wars including the first and second gulf war's where Amman had the biggest share, after the year 2000 the city witnessed a revolutionary progress in many aspects cultural and urban wise, there were several mega projects established in the city such as "Jordan gate towers" and "Abdali Urban Regeneration Project", this expansion was parallel to a population increase as well due to the prosperity and security within the city

Amman is governed by a 41 members city council elected once every five years, directly elected by the Jordanian citizens of Amman city above 17 years old, the first council in Amman was establish by the Circassian Ismael Babouk in 1909 who became the first mayor of Amman​The modern city has stable economy and it is a regional political and economical capital with many huge investments established there, most of the big Jordanian companies' headquarters are based in Amman, its economy is a mixture of several sectors together, such as banking, chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry, logistics and transportation, modern agriculture production, real estates, many consulting firms in many fields, the city has one of the most sophisticated economical system in the region though, more than 30% of Amman inhabitants are not Jordanian citizens indeed who are working, studying or just refugees in Amman. The city has plenty of all the necessary facilities to have integrated social system in a huge city, airports, big shopping mall, hundreds of restaurants with many cuisines, theaters and museumsThe modern city is one of the main attractions in the country for foreigners, it is not only the archaeological sites or museums that attract them, it is mostly the simplest things everyone from Amman is familiar with that really makes it interesting for foreigners and tourists, such as smoking Argilah in the night somewhere in Amman down town (Wast Albalad locally called) or having a dinner or breakfast at some local restaurant there too, the night life is very interesting too in the city